Does anyone want my bees, isn’t there a bee shortage?

Back in the day, beekeepers use to line up to collect your bees, but since the 1980′s & 90′s, there have been two harsh changes in the industry causing many beekeepers to stop collecting stray hives, and also to abandon beekeeping all together.

First, diseases that were never around before began plaguing & killing the common honeybee, and second, bees have become much more aggressive due to the outbreak of “killer bees” which crossed over from South America and have now crossbred, creating a hybrid bee. These bees stretch from Southern California to Texas and now into Florida.

For these two reasons, it’s hard to find a beekeeper that will take your bees.

There is in addition a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder (CCD). This occurs when a beekeeper (apiarist) goes out to the apiary to find a portion of the bee boxes empty. There appear to be a combination of causes for this, but ‘hybrid bees’ (the bees on your property) are not affected by CCD.

I came home and found bees near my window?

Often I’ll get a call with a home owner saying, “I have bees inside my window!” or “I came home and found dead bees near my window, What’s going on?”

In both cases bees are either scouting your home determining if it’s a place they want to move the swarm in to set up shop, or they already have. In either case it’s important to call a specialist immediately, preferably an honest one. Many people leave it alone or try spraying it when the bees disappear in the evening and they don’t see them before work in the morning, they think they’re gone. Most likely, the bees simply went to sleep for the night and haven’t started working yet in the morning. Take a minute to read the testimonials to find out what other people have experienced.

I have a lot of flowers in my yard, is this causing the bees to move onto my property?

No, bees typically fly up to two or more miles away to gather nectar and pollen.\

Why do I keep getting bees?… What’s going on?

You probably have bad luck. Just kidding of course, the truth is you’re either having someone extract or kill the bees, and the honey is being left in your walls, or you’ve purchased a house where the prior resident was leaving the honey in the walls.

Normally in southern California a house or structure will get bees about every 15 to 20 years. But if honeycomb from a hive is left in the walls, bees come back very frequently. One home owner referred to me began getting 5 hives a year. At that point the best plan of action was to bee proof their whole house. Not the normal solution. It’s important to remove the hive, not just the bees!

Why did the bees choose my home?

Bees are somewhat random in their selection of where to start a hive though there are some things we know. Prior hives left in walls will attract bees frequently. Eaves, wall voids, and chimneys are the most common locations in a structure that bees will exploit. They only need one small hole or gap to get in!

Another important thing to know is that bees prefer to be woken up by the sun. If your going to perform exclusion work to try and bee proof your house, focus more on the East and Southeast areas of the house.

I found bees going in and out of a hole in my wall. I’ve sealed it up real well. Will this do the trick?

This is a typical remedy applied by homeowners along with cans of wasp spay. The result is within a few days or less your bees dig through the wall and into the house, outside, or both. Trapped bees can survive for months before they deplete their honey reserves or die of thirst. It’s not likely that you’ll be able to eliminate the oxygen flow enough to kill them. But even if this were possible, the smell would most likely attract rodents, bugs, and bees in the future. To solve the problem the bees and honeycomb need to be removed.

How can I tell if these bees are the killer bees?

Visually it’s near impossible. Africanized bees look the same as European honeybees. All bees should be respected were they have a home nearby. There have been many deaths to animals and humans from bees aggressively defending their home. In most cases messing with the bees in hopes to make them go away will cause more problems than you started with. Generally, the bees attached to your house or on your property are not docile honeybees though they may appear so.

A new bee swarm of bees, or bees building a hive, are not likely to sting. This is because they’re busy building their hive, and don’t have much honey or young to protect. This is true of both European honey bees and kill bees. Often a customer says “The bees were always friendly, but they’ve become very aggressive lately.” There can be a few reasons for this but the common one is that the hive is established and now they are protecting it. Just because bees exhibit a friendly nature unfortunately does not mean they are friendly bees.

What can I do to keep this from happening again?

Give us a call or while we’re at your house, find out what can be done to prevent future infestations, this is good for you and the bees.

What will happen if a killer bee stings me?

A killer bee has the very same amount of bee venom that a European honeybee has. Also, like the European honeybee, a killer bee also dies after stinging. But killer bees attack in much greater numbers when they feel threatened or their hive is disturbed. They also stay angry for much longer.

A honeybee stung my child, what should I do?

Remove the stinger as soon as possible. When a child is stung it hurts and they are scared, it can help to wash the area and put something on it that will absorb out if possible some of the venom, perhaps the most important thing is that the child has confidence that s/he will be okay. This is most likely to occur when you stay calm, are reassuring, and include a dose of TLC.

Studies have found that 15% to 20% of people who are asked will say they’re allergic to bee stings, yet medical evaluations find it’s actually only about 1%. If you feel your child is allergic seek medical attention.

In choosing a bee company

It’s always nice if you can have someone you trust refer you to a bee company. If this is not possible, consider using a licensed company first, the price most likely won’t be much different. Also don’t choose a company that uses scare tactics to motivate you to use their services. These companies often overcharge you and provide poor service. Just hang up! Find someone calm, confident, and honest to solve your bee problem.